"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

This is a special time in Nic and I's life as a married couple.  I know other young couples go through similar events and changes, and that we're nothing new to this, but I'm sitting here just thinking... wow, this week is is a pretty big one.

He gets all blushy when I talk about him in front of his face, but at least if I do it here, you can't see him!  :P  I can't say enough great things about my husband.  He's asleep right now so he'll be ready to go for his final in the morning.  Did you catch the big word?  FINAL.  IT'S HIS LAST WEEK OF NURSING SCHOOL!  This time last year, we had just moved to Texas and every day we were working like crazy to get the house and my classroom put together before the kids started school and Nic started his program.  Here we are, a year later, and he's in his last week and I'm preparing for my second year of teaching.  He's really put in A LOT of hard work with this program (understatement of the year!).  He's practically lived in his books and on his computer, and somehow has pulled it off with awesome grades and still a smile on his face.  Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that he lands a good job (preferably in an ICU to prep him for a Nurse Anesthetist program)! I'm SO PROUD of Nic and all that he's accomplished in one year.  Seriously, think about it... he earned a whole degree in ONE YEAR!  How INSANE is that?  (Did I ever mention he's also really really cute and funny, and incredibly sweet?)  ♥

This was taken the day he found out he got accepted into the program:

Going in for his first clinical shift (yup, he's EXCITED!):

Annnnd one more to show that he actually has hair now.  ;-)

The anticipation for everything has gotten us quite excited.  I can afford to be awake right now because, even though tomorrow is a work day, I've still got just A FEW days of summer left!  I can't believe how fast it went by, and also can't believe all of the things I still have to do before the kids come.  So within the next week, Nic will *officially* be finished with school, and I will *officially* be starting again.  Isn't that the way things usually work?  So we're sort of just sitting back and relishing this time we've got- me still with a bit of summer and him with assignments slowly tapering off as they get finished.  I think about this time NEXT YEAR and how we'll likely be in our new home in Hampton and how we get to work like crazy to put the house together again, and how I get to work at making new friends all over again as well.

Speaking of friends, I can't tell you how many times I've thanked God for all of the AMAZING people we've met (and already knew) here in Texas.  It was a treat, first of all, to be near Nic's family and get to spend more time with them.  But it's just icing on the cake that I work with some really stellar people.  I mean REALLY stellar people.  These are honestly some of the funniest, sweetest, most outgoing, and sincere people that I've ever met.  I've enjoyed eating lunch with them, planning with them, working for them, and seeing their faces every day.  Teaching can be hard (another understatement of the year), especially in a school like ours.  And while I don't think I ever really voiced it to them, they made my first year teaching a lot smoother than it could have been.  They were there for me to talk to, to lean on, and to make me LAUGH on my best and worst of days.  Part of me wonders how I ever got so LUCKY.  And also part of me wonders if I'll EVER be this lucky again in Virginia.  I really am looking forward to school starting again so I can see everyone EVERY DAY, not just on sporadic little dinner/lunch/pool dates. 

I love days like this, when I know the next few days will be full of lots of FUN.  Tomorrow's plan involves a POOL with some fun NURSING STUDENTS (celebrating 1 Final down), working out and then MORE FRIENDS in the evening...  Saturday will again include friends in the evening, and Sunday will include brunch with Nic's parents, POOL again, then celebrating a friend's birthday in the evening.  Monday and Tuesday?  Well, they're the last two days of summer and I'm sure I'll be filling them with something fun!  I know there's no real WORK in my very near future, and even on Wednesday when it all starts back up again... there's STILL fun in the plan (I'm hearing something about a team-building ropes course? Yippee!!!).  I love knowing I've got plans to see people I really love spending time with in the very near future.  Ahhhh Summer.  Ahhhh end of Nursing school (it's great to get my husband back!). 

Life.is.good.  ♥

Don't make me think too hard about this.

Being a teacher is full of perks.  First, there are the occasions when kids actually listen to and (dare I say it) ENJOY their time with you, then there's also that added bonus of you filling their heads with knowledge they didn't have before.  There are those times when kids say really funny things that you then get to share with your boring-cubicle working Facebook friends (Male Student:  I peed on the stick, so I know it's not mine).  And of course, working with people who experience the same student body throughout the day gives you an instant bond; and if they're of like mind and humor, that's even better!  Oh yea, and there's that little two and a half month(ish) thing you get called SUMMER.  Where you get to STAY HOME.  But you STILL GET PAID.  (I felt guilty about it at first... but then I quickly got over it.)  Of course, like any job, teaching definitely has it's stressful moments (sometimes lasting weeks), but it's not a bad gig if I do say so myself. 

Since it's July 16th and all, I haven't really been getting near as many stress headaches as I used to during the school year.  It might have something to do with there being a lack of... stress.  That's not to say that I've been doing completely NOTHING (only about twice or 3 times a week).  I've attended a few trainings, learned some great things that I plan on using in my classroom when school starts again, and even taken some kids to Student Council camp for a week.  But all of those things have been pretty fun and enjoyable endeavors.  For the most part, summer has been... well, what it used to be:  relaxing, pool-allowing and fun-having.  It wasn't until recently that I began to get a stress headache, and it came from a very unlikely source.

Ever since the Totaling My Saturn Incident of 2008, I have been in love with my gold Chevy Equinox.  And to this day, none of the before-mentioned stress has been the actual Equinox's fault.  It's always been comfortable, reliable, and most importantly- cute.  (Obviously all very important traits of a vehicle.)  ;)  So when my lovely vehicle WOULDN'T START (this happened while I was away at StuCo camp), well, some investigating had to be done.  So we took it to a trusted local auto shop that Nic has used as long as he's been in Lubbock.  They're one of those places that will look at your car for free, and even give you little dinky equipment pieces for free, and will tell you honestly- you COULD get X replaced, but realistically, it'll last you Y more miles, and you'll be fine not getting it done for a while.  So we trust them, right?

Let me back up a little before I go on.  We had a little financial hiccup with summer not being part of the academic year (affected Nic's student loan), then traveling to a friend's wedding in MO + me being home and spending more $ = us being low in the funds.  So we waited until after Pay Day to get the car taken in.  Not a big deal, we have two cars.  EXCEPT NIC DRIVES A STICK SHIFT.  So that was STRESS HEADACHE #1:  Learning to drive a stick shift.

There MAY have been one time, shortly after *learning* the stick, when I stopped for a red light at a busy intersection AND COULDN'T GET THE CAR TO GO AGAIN.  I did everything Nic taught me:  pushed in the clutch, made sure it was in 1st, let the clutch out slowly... but IT JUST KEPT DYING.  I kept restarting the car, and when the cars behind me started honking and going around me, well, I got a little panicky.  I could feel the sweat on my forehead forming and my heart-rate started to rise.  There MAY have been one moment when I, in that state of panic, ACCIDENTALLY TURNED ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS AND THE HEADLIGHTS.  Yea.  It was that bad.  It must have been the Grace of God that got me going again; I definitely didn't know what I'd done to start moving again. (The rest of the drive was spent going down side neighborhood streets.  It took me over 20 minutes to go what usually took 10.  But I got there ALIVE.)  Nic was sure to go on some review drives with me after the Scary Incident on 50th until I felt comfortable going out on my own again.  I eventually got the hang of it.  In fact, I ACTUALLY LIKED IT!  I felt COOL driving a stick (even it it was on a Subaru that *kind of* resembles a STATION WAGON).  I liked feeling coordinated and having a skill that not everybody has.  It took me a while to get there, and yes, gave me a STRESS HEADACHE, but I finally got there.  Sigh of relief.

So I learned how to drive a stick (Stress Headache #1), and then we took the car in.  We finally got the car back, with some very disturbing news:  the remote-start had a huge short in it and practically caught on fire when they tried to get the car to start, which then drained the battery in its effort to find power, so they had to take it all out.  Let me re-state:  THEY TOOK OUT MY EXPENSIVE REMOTE-START and also REPLACED THE BATTERY.  I couldn't decide which I was more sad about:  having to pay for a new battery (OK, not THAT big a deal) or the fact that my expensive remote-start was gone (the fact that TX doesn't get cold enough to need it is beside the point!).  So we paid the mechanics and left the auto shop, only to discover that also, MY STEREO SYSTEM WOULDN'T WORK and NEITHER WOULD MY KEYLESS ENTRY.  Ok, quadruple frown.  That's 4 things now that had been affected by this incident!  I wouldn't really care all THAT much, except (as I said in my last post) my brother's getting MARRIED, which is going to require a drive to MO.  13 hours in the car with no music?!? Please no, please please no!!!  So, in order that I not fall asleep on the long drive... also, so I don't go INSANE, we went to a local car audio business to get the stereo looked at.  STRESS HEADACHE #2.    

"Well, first off, there'll be a $40 diagnostic fee for what we find."  "When they took out the remote start, they must have been in a hurry, because they yanked out some wires needed for your stereo, and possibly wires needed for your module to work as well.  You'll definitely need a new stereo (at least $140), and possibly a new module ($120).  It'll cost $65 for them to install a new stereo, and $75 more if you want them to hook it up to the steering-wheel.  We can discuss the cost of module installation if you actually need one."
OK this is the conversation I'm having.  Alone.  Me and the audio guys.  Nic's at a 13 hour clinical shift at the hospital, and I have no idea what to do.  First, the problem is I DON'T GENERALLY LIKE SPENDING LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY WITHOUT MY SPOUSE PRESENT.  Second, Nic is able to install stereos... maybe I should just wait, ghetto rig the music for MO, and let him install it?  Third, if he installs it, would it work if a new module is needed?  Fourth, which stereo would I choose?  Fifth, do I really need that extra $50 cable he mentioned? Sixth, I ALREADY PAID THE MONEY FOR A NICER STEREO LAST CHRISTMAS AND NOW I'M HAVING TO BUY ANOTHER ONE??  Also, why is everything SO freaking expensive, and WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?  I ALREADY PAID FOR THESE THINGS AND NOW I HAVE TO PAY AGAIN!!!  I kind of felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when the house is spinning around her and nothing is very clear.  I would have loved to just plop down on my bed and take a long hard nap and when awoken, everything will have worked itself out, all bright and colorful and beautiful.  Alas, there was no bed.  And no time for napping.  I'm pretty sure that from the moment he told me what I needed & what it'd cost to the time my head started hurting was approximately 0.764 seconds.  And one more thing- the front right tire has a nail in it.  !!! :( 

I tried to call Nic, but he was too busy to answer.  Tried to call my parents and explain, and luckily, they were able to give some advice.  I think they felt bad that all of this was happening.  The remote start was a gift from them for my birthday (granted, I chose where it got installed), and that was the thing that stemmed the problem.  Also, they knew that we couldn't help the series of events.  They decided to do one of the kindest, most unexpected gestures:  they offered to pay for the new stereo and installation.  Wait, what?  You want to WHAT?  But WHY?  ARE YOU SURE?  No... you don't have to do that.  It's really ok.  REALLY?  But WHY?  So after some prodding, they told me to go ahead and get it done.  (Haha I had already told the guys that I'd come back on Monday with my husband; they closed up the car & the wirey mess, only to have to open it all up again after my parents' sweet news.)  So mom and dad came to the rescue.  Nic and I definitely COULD have paid for it, but that's a pretty decent chunk of money to us.  Not to say that it's not for my parents, but they make just a *little* more than we do, as they've been working a *little* longer in their lifetimes... plus, they love being sweet to their children.  In the end, Vision Audio felt sorry for my depressed, frowny little face and decided to cut me a decent deal on a few aspects of this whole thing.  I felt good knowing that mom & dad weren't shelling out an amount that, frankly, was quite ridiculous.  ...only an amount that was SLIGHTLY ridiculous.

In the end, I walked away with this beauty:

 

She looks gorgeous, and sounds AMAZING!  THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!  And while I waited, I called my remote-start company and found out that it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY!  While in MO, I'll stop by and *hopefully* get it replaced!  :)

So, the drive to Briboy's wedding will be a LOT more enjoyable now!  I leave the day after the day after tomorrow (i.e. in about 3 days) and couldn't be more PUMPED!  The actually wedding is ONLY A WEEK AWAY!

So the moral of the story is, you can even get headaches during the times you most anticipate to be full of relaxation.  But even then, if you can stick through it SOMETHING good will likely come of it (learning a new skill or getting something new are a few good things).  So how about you- any sources of stress lately disrupting your fun in the sun of summer?  Was there light at the end?  How'd it go?